The Walking Dead 5×10

It seems as if Walking Dead is giving us a break to catch up on the losses of Beth and Tyreese. However, it still appears that the group is struggling and losing focus on how to survive and stick together. The main three who seem distant this episode are Daryl, Maggie, and Sasha. From the beginning we see tension within as the group marches on towards Washington; the heat along their march definitely didn’t help matters get any better. While it was necessary that we see how the group would handle these deaths, this felt way too drawn out. It was basically walking, someone tries to talk to Maggie, Sasha goes on bezerk, Michonne tries to calm her, Daryl goes off by himself to “look for water”, and it cycled on until the last 15-20 minutes of the episode. There were some minor things that happened in between these cycles that were interesting. Father Gabriel at first tried to comfort Maggie, but eventually he even took the tab out of his collar and threw it into the flames. I’m not sure if this has any special meaning, but I think it’ll play a part later on. The group also comes across several water bottles and jugs in the middle of the highway from a “friend”. The group is suspicious of this from the start and rightly so. From here though, the group gets rained out and has to find shelter in a barn; which appears to bring back memories of life during season 2. While in the barn Rick, Daryl, and some of the others try to remain optimistic. Rick tells them what his grandpa told him about WWII. In order to survive their ordeal, they must be the Walking Dead; only if they make it out on the other end of all this will they begin to live. However, Daryl takes exception to this by saying they aren’t like them; and I have to agree with him. If they go by the logic that they’re already dead until they get out of this then that can be demeaning to their morale. In order for the group to get out of this, they have to realize they are living and they still have something to fight for. If they were the walking dead, then would there really be anything to separate them from the walkers? Now this version of applying walking dead to themselves is completely different than what happened when they found out the virus was already in them. In that case, it was perfectly applicable to see themselves as walking dead. This time around, Rick can’t really expect the group to rally around the thought that in order to live they have to be dead first. Anyway, as the storm worsens Daryl goes off to collect his thoughts; but it’s interrupted by a wave of zombies that are looking for cover from the storm also. Maggie and Sasha are the first to help Daryl hold the door shut. Eventually the other group members join as they fight to separate themselves from the dead. This imagery here provided an interesting take on Rick’s comparison. It appeared in between lightning flashes that there really was no difference between the groups and there may be truth to it after all. As the storm finishes, Magie, Sasha, and Daryl each seem to have changed their mindsets and appear to be back to the characters we’ve come to know them as. As Sasha and Maggie reflect on what they have to do, they are greeted by the mysterious Aaron. What’s even more disturbing about this man is that he already knows who Rick is, and by that he probably knows who’s in the rest of the group. This sets up a brooding aura for this man and the chaos he’ll most likely bring to the group. I’m sure comic readers already know what’s going to happen, but for the rest of us it will be interesting to see how short of a leash they keep on this guy.